Padding Into Black Footsteps
by BellesangRose
Summary: Harry had some time to think after Sirius' death and decided to do something himself, both thanks to some famous last words. AU/OOC, Independent Harry, Usual Bashing, Oh and Rated M for obvious reasons.
1. Famous Last Words

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Alright I got some sudden inspiration for a story like this, so here goes. The story starts off during the summer after Sirius got killed at the Ministry of Magic. This story is AU so some characters will behave a bit OOC. There will be Dumblebashing at some point and likely more, along with that I'm adding a M rating since there will be lemons in future chapters. First chapter might raise some questions, but things will be cleared up a bit in later chapters in order to keep things a little bit more surprise. Anyways, here goes (again).

**Side Note: **I do not have any beta's at this time so bare with me for the time being, people who are interested in doing so can let me know.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter one: famous last words  
**

It was late at night, only a lone muggle was still up at this hour and those that were had likely been too sleepy to notice what was going on in the streets of London. Had it been downtown then someone working a nightshift might have noticed the commotion going on, but where it was happening in one of the suburbs things seemed to be going unnoticed, which was surprising seen all the commotion going on. Voices were yelling into the night, making clear that a crowd or mob was hunting someone down and it wasn't just someone. Bright flashes illuminated the houses, enlarging shadows as they rushed through the streets. Dressed in black robes they would have blended in perfectly into the night if it weren't for the flashes of spells and curses being cast in rapid succession. Red, yellow, blue and even the dreaded green color lit the next street up, though the Death Eaters were starting to spread out more with every street they crossed, their prey quite illusive to them, which only resulted in more anger from them.

"Where did he go?"

"Potter! You can't run forever!"

" There he is! I saw something moving! That must have been him."

Each time it was a different voice it seemed, though Harry had been able to pick up and recognize a few of them. Lucius Malfoy was one of the easier ones to spot, so was the rat Pettigrew though he had likely given up on the chase several blocks ago. It nearly made the boy chuckle thinking of Wormtail running and out of breath, after all someone like that didn't have the condition to do so, though Harry was happy that he had been doing Quidditch through the school years to keep him somewhat fit as the Dursleys were definitely no help in that matter. Ducking behind a hedge he crawled through a garden, trying to keep out of sight from his chasers. After all Dumbledore and the Order would throw more than a fit if they realized what he was doing right now, then again he couldn't help it that his 'guard' had been dozing off on the job during pretty much each and every shift.

However he couldn't let go that Dumbledore had once again been ignoring everything he'd said, after the whole thing at the Ministry the situation had gotten a lot worse. Till then the Death Eaters had been working behind the scenes and out of sight, now they took a lot more risk which made it pretty clear that Sirius wasn't going to be the last casualty in this war. Carefully Harry peered across the top of the hedge, spotting figures moving further down the street. They were talking to each other and clearly still looking for him. As he raised his head slightly more he heard one of them yell out to the others.

"No, he's here! Get him!"

Harry wasted no time and began to run, it was tempting to send a few counter curses back at them but he limited them. As for one it gave him away less and secondly he'd walked nearly into a sign post doing so earlier, so he wasn't going to be taking that risk again. However he'd been on the run for at least half an hour since he'd stopped the group from attacking the Granger residence, though it felt more like an hour already with the way he was panting. Hermione and her parents had likely been sleeping at the time as every light in the house had been off, but he thought he'd caught one going on as he was being chased out of the street. Hopefully it had been enough to keep his friend there safe, but that was something for later to find out as he had other things on his mind. Proof of that was another curse whizzing closely by his head.

Turning a few more corners and streets he was eventually left with two Death Eaters on his tail, the laughter of one clearly revealed that one of them was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange, perhaps the most feared witch in Britain. Feeling that he'd shaken off the rest more than enough Harry pulled out his wand again and whirled around, before sending a green curse flying at his pursuers.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Though instead of striking Bellatrix she whirled to the side, not too surprising as Harry had seen the superb dueling skills of the witch at the Ministry. The person walking behind her though was less fortunate, as he only saw the curse the moment Bella spun to the side and was hit full in the chest with it.

"Ickle Potter should learn to hit its targets… as you missed me… but mark my works Potter… I won't miss you…"

A wicked sounding laugh followed, though Harry wasn't wasting time to give a reply even though he had gladly wanted to. He didn't even wait to see the second Death Eater fall, only a faint thud made him aware that the other had fallen. Continuing his run he made his way further down the street, to make a quick turn into one of the alleys Harry quickly grabbed hold of a street light, using it to guide him around the corner. The alley was considerably smaller than the streets he'd been in earlier as well as a bit darker, but it would do.

Turning another corner Harry ended up in another alley, one that connected to the one he had been running through. Though after several paces into it he slowed down until he came to a complete halt. Bending over a bit he placed his hands on his upper legs, taking a few to catch a breath as while his shape wasn't as bad as Pettigrew's he did get tired after a while. He didn't know how long he'd been standing there but hearing footsteps behind him he straightened himself quickly before turning around to end up being face to face with a talon-shaped wand.

"Aws… ickle baby Potter got tired… you really thought you could just interfere with us again and get away with it?"

If the way she was chiding wasn't enough the look in Bella's eyes was simply pure insanity, enough to make anyone shiver as it was most likely that not even the Dark Lord himself could predict what was going on in her mind. Of course it helped that she was an expert Occlumens. She motioned lightly with her wand for him to step slightly more away from the wall, which Harry slowly did.

"Well then Potter… time to say bye bye… as I had enough of your meddling… any last words, Potter?"

She was gloating without a doubt, it showed in her eyes and her smirk as well, but what she wasn't expecting was the way Harry suddenly smirked back in.

"Yes, I do…"

The gloating soon became a look of surprise but that was only the beginning of it as she heard him continue.

"I, Harry James Potter, hereby call upon the lifedebt of Bellatrix Druella Black and do so by taking her as my loyal wife… so mote it be."


	2. Of Curses & Frustrations

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Time for the second chapter after the lovely cliffhanger on the first. Thank you for the reviews so far, they do keep me going. As far as this chapter goes, there is a little bit more suspense happening but the next chapter is likely going to reveal a few answers. Have fun reading.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter two: of cursing and frustrations  
**

"I, Harry James Potter, hereby call upon the lifedebt of Bellatrix Druella Black and do so by taking her as my loyal wife… so mote it be."

The words almost echoed through the alley that silent it was, if even for the moment. Bellatrix's eyes were wide open by the time he was finished and her jaw had dropped slightly though it only lasted for a little bit as laughter set in. Enough so that the dark witch was having to fight off the desire to buckle over, this was simply far too amusing to her that even the fact that Potter was the one saying this was just being ignored by her. Harry on the other hand kept standing there, sure he could try to run but with her wand that close there was little chance of getting far, besides he felt like he had done already more than enough running.

"I dare say… interesting last words… they humor me but in my opinion ickle Harry should have picked something better to say… or at least shown the decency to try and run like any other would… but no… not the great Harry Potter…"

Bellatrix was still trying to fight off the laughter, which she slowly managed to do and further more needed to do as well in order to be convincing enough to finish things as she intended to, as amused as she was she was still feeling that desire to get rid of the pest in her life known as Potter. He'd had caused her more harm than good to be honest and tonight she was going to end that once and for all.

"Well then… time to say bye bye… be nice and wave to the audience…"

She couldn't help but to gloat about this victory, enough so that she didn't even worry about the Dark Lord's reaction to it at all. She would prove that Harry could be killed quite easily and that the whole prophecy was just one big joke, just like the seer whom had made it. Even she found Sybill Trelawny a rambling nutcase, she didn't even know why Dumbledork had made her a Professor at his 'precious' school either but now her mind was wandering again, she had a job to do.

"Try me…"

Harry responded to her words a bit too confident to her liking and that made the last chuckles she had from her earlier laughing fit disappear quite quickly. Like before her violet eyes were showing that hatred for the boy in front of her, exactly what she was needing for a perfect killing curse. All she did next was huff and utter the incantation for the dreaded spell.

"Avada Ked…"

The witch stopped in the middle of the words as she noticed how her talon-shaped wand was trembling. It threw her, because not even when she killed for the very first time she had trembled like this. In all honesty the only times she had been trembling was during Voldemort's wraths and this was supposed to be like slicing butter with a hot knife for her.

She stared at her wand for a few moments, her eyes narrowing as she tried to focus herself. Enough so that Harry could see how the female Death Eater tightened her grip on her wand, causing her knuckles to turn white as blood withdrew from them. A growl of frustration flowed from her lips as she turned her attention to Harry and once again tried to cast her spell.

"Avada K…"

"Avada Ked…"

"A-A-Avada Ked…"

She ended up trying several times but never did she finish the words on any of those attempts, making her only become more pissed at the boy in front of her. It didn't help that Harry was quite amused by what he was seeing, to the point he even wondered if she would start stomping on the floor and throw a tantrum right there.

Instead though she was looking at her wand again with an immense intensity, frustrations sky rocketing as she moved the wand to her other hand but refrained from uncurling her fist. She wanted to curse Harry, to punch Harry but all she managed to do was a simple slap across his cheek.

"What the hell did you do, Potter! Tell me! Which spell did you use on me? Tell me now!"

Harry was more focused on the stinging sensation in his cheek that the words the other was spitting out toward him, mostly because he hadn't expected her to do something like that. In hindsight it was something amusing where he was pretty much ready to face a killing curse from the witch yet wasn't ready for a simple slap.

Rubbing his cheek he couldn't help but to end up noticing the time on his watch, well Dudley's watch which he had borrowed for the night since he needed to be back in time before they would switch his guards on him. It made him realize that he couldn't waste too much time, even though he enjoyed seeing Bellatrix this annoyed at him.

"I already told you, Bella… but if you want a better answer then come to room thirteen of the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow night, I do suggest that you come alone or you might not get them… I did want to tell you tonight though but unfortunately I'm on a slight curfew, so I have to go… sorry…"

Okay he had a bit of a smug look on his face when he told her that, as for once he was a bit in control of the situation. At least this situation as he didn't want to come home late tonight, as he suspected that Mad Eye was going to be having the next shift in guarding him. So he calmly pulled out the portkey from his pocket, which would take him to the playgrounds near where the Dursleys and he lived.

"You! You aren't allowed to call me that, you brat!"

Bellatrix once again spat out but as she realized that he really intended to leave she dropped that part and went back to demanding answers.

"And you aren't going anywhere, Potter, not till you lift that damned hex of yours and tell me what you did!"

Angered pretty much to the bone she growled at the Boy-Who-Lived and in pure frustration she once again tried to curse him with all she got.

"AVADA KED…!"

Once again she couldn't finish the spell she almost desperately was trying to cast, though by the time her attempt failed this time Harry vanished in a flash, leaving behind one hell of a frustrated witch.

"Aaargh! Damn you Potter!"

She cursed out loud as she threw her wand onto the ground of the alley, just trying to relieve some of that tension which she was currently feeling. Of course it didn't help and to her annoyance she now had to pick up her wand too, but as she rose to her feet she knew that the only thing she could do right now was go back, after all Potter was gone. However she now knew where she could find him tomorrow and that was an interesting thing to know… or maybe even to share…


	3. Nothing But Death

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Alright I present to you the third chapter and as promised it does reveal a little bit more, just a little bit though but don't worry I promise more will unfold soon. Either way thank you for your reviews so far and enjoy reading this next chapter.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter three: nothing but death  
**

Bella was seething as she paced through her chambers, she couldn't believe what happened and how she had let herself be lured into it. It was all a fluke, there was no other reason she could think of as Potter had to have come up with such a thing to throw her off. Worst of it all was that he had succeeded at it. The Dark Lord had been less than pleased as well and the fact that she'd endured several Cruciatus curses through their failure only added to her anger. The dark witch couldn't care about the failed attack on the Grangers at the moment, all she could think of was the arrogance Potter had treated her with.

Not just that was on her mind though, after all the boy had shown the audacity to invite her over for the following night. Merlin, it was so tempting to just tell Lord Voldemort about this and just swamp the place and capture if not kill Potter. As tempting as it was she couldn't help but to doubt Harry would show either, her mind simply doing overtime as she tried to figure out what the boy was heading at. After all the punishment for leading the Dark Lord to a possible location where Potter was only to find him not there wasn't one she was looking forward to. But what if he was there?

Frustration was building more and more as her mind went back and forth, it was enough to drive pretty much anyone insane except for Bellatrix since she was considered to be out of her mind already. All she could do was go see and hope for the best, after all if the boy would show then she could always rely on her mark to call her Lord. Yes, that seemed the most logical thing to her and definitely the thing to do. So her mind eased a little bit she waited till the hour was upon her and then apparated off to Diagon Alley.

Meanwhile Harry had been enduring the usual day of scolding, beating and other punishments from the Dursleys throughout the day. Often they made it seem like the Cruciatus curse was nothing and in turn Harry had shot more than enough deadly glares at them, or at least he wished that his looks could kill. However throughout the day he had also been thinking about the meeting with Bellatrix, it was a risky move but he knew that by sitting idle here during the summer he wouldn't achieve anything either, but he knew he could take away some risks using his invisibility cloak. Though before he could worry about the lunatic witch Harry had to deal with Shacklebolt, he couldn't sneak out until his shift would end in guarding him.

Harry grew impatient as he had to wait but finally he noticed that the change in shift had happened, after which he immediately called for Dobby whom 'popped' them over to the high street of Diagon Alley not much before Bellatrix was to make her appearance as well. Under the cover of his invisibility cloak he made it over to the Leaky Cauldron and to the room he'd rented for the night earlier. Inside he went for the empty corner of the room and waited there, still safely hidden under his cloak.

He couldn't help but to feel his heart pound in his chest as he waited for the dark witch, something which didn't take too long. Sure the seriousness of the risks he was taking was working his nerves, since as Bella entered the room he was almost expecting a few Death Eaters to follow. Harry watched how she cautiously walked into the room, examining all the possible hiding spots like under the bed and inside the closet. The Gryffindor waited a little bit longer just to make sure she wouldn't call in help and once he felt that he was safe enough, he took off his cloak as her back was turned to him.

Not hesitating he made sure to lock the door with a quick spell, along with a silencing charm just in case. Of course it made Bella spin around quite quickly with her own wand drawn as well.

"So you showed after all, ickle baby Potter… so foolish of you, as I'm not going to let you get away a second time."

Harry smirked a bit as he looked at the witch before replying, though keeping his own wand ready as well. That said he did lower it a bit to try and lessen the tension and risks for the moment as well.

"Who said something about me leaving yet? Besides you can check that I just placed some charms on the door which state the fact that I don't intend to leave. Next to that I did promise you some answers and unlike some I tend to keep my word."

Of course the latter was a slight lie as in the course of the past several weeks he'd learned that he would have to break a few words in order to be able to stand up for himself a bit more and to protect himself in the process.

Bella didn't lower her wand though, simply not trusting the boy in front of her and mostly because she didn't intend to keep playing his game anymore. However his words were satisfying enough for now to keep her from hexing and cursing the shit out of Potter.

"Then spit it out, Potter… because the Dark Lord's time is precious and my patience is wearing thin."

"The Dark Lord's time? Frankly you're more here for yourself Bella or you wouldn't have come here on your own."

"Don't call me Bella, Potter!"

The witch snapped at him and instantly began to curl up her sleeve, showing off that dark mark which was etched into her skin and created that bond to her Dark Lord. The fact that she pointed at it with her wand made her words pretty much redundant, but she chose to state the obvious none the less.

"Keep in mind that I can call him here any moment, Potter."

Harry was well aware of that fact but he believed that it was an idle threat for now, since the other had more than enough time and occasion to do so, which made it quite clear that he was safe for now and next to that he had his own backup plan as well ready when needed. But to keep her pleased he motioned her slowly to calm down a bit, not that it helped much seen the agitation of Bellatrix but in his mind it was the thought that counted.

"Very well then… though I think it's safe to guess that you had enough time to work out a few things on your own, Bella… trix."

Okay the slight pause was perhaps a little cruel and seeing her eyes infuriate more showed that he indeed needed to be careful yet her posture seemed to ease a bit. Sure it was only a little bit but it indeed told him that he had been right.

"I had some time to spare alright…"

She responded with a light snarl, since he was more than clearly taunting her there, making her grip her wand a bit firmer before continuing. After all kids were quite capable of making your blood boil and in Bella's opinion Harry was quite good at it, which almost sounded like admiration if she would ever admit such a thing.

"… however… I decided that you have almost nothing… nothing but lies. What you did the other night was merely catching me off guard, nothing more… Well perhaps there is something but that doesn't make a difference…"

Standing there Harry rose a slight eye brow which was mostly out of curiosity, next to that he had to agree that she was partially true there but there was far more to it though.

"And what would that be?"

"What does it matter to you, Potter?"

Bellatrix huffed in her own annoyance and decided then to spill it none the less, if only to try and pull the Boy-Who-Lived out of his little fairytale world.

"The fact that Rodolphus is dead…"


	4. When Plans Come Together

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** As promised a quick follow up on the previous chapter, revealing a little bit more and perhaps a surprising lemon. Either way there is still a lot more to come but till then have fun reading chapter four.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter four: when plans come together  
**

"The fact that Rodolphus is dead…"

Bellatrix wasn't going to give the boy that one that easy though and decided to added the rest of her findings quickly to it.

"… but we both know that it was merely an unlucky shot that hit him."

"Was it?"

That simple reply got Harry instantly another glare from the witch opposite of him, their little standoff lasting a bit longer before he moved. He walked calmly past her, though couldn't help but to keep an eye on her in a subtle manner as he walked towards the small windows in the room. There he looked out for a few moments before turning back to Bella, whom was getting more and more annoyed with the arrogance of the Boy-Who-Lived. Though inside he needed the moment to recollect himself, he needed to keep this going now he had started off his plan.

"What do you mean Potter? You know it was a mere accident."

"If that is what you want to believe…"

"It is the truth, Potter!"

Her words were cutting his off in a pretty hard manner, giving him no reason to explain himself but fact was that she was wrong. Sure, it had seemed like an accident but the reality was that it was exactly what Harry had wanted and needed.

Little did Bella seem to realize that he had paid careful attention to whom had been chasing him the night before, while the witch had been the obvious one to do so Harry had also recognized the voice of Rodolphus. Next to that he knew that the female Death Eater was a more than skilled duelist, as she had proven at the Ministry, so he anticipated that she would either counter his curse or simply swerve out of the way. By doing the latter she had made it impossible for Rodolphus to do the same since his wife had been blocking his sight. So yes Harry had cast his curse with the expectation that she would do so, as he had targeted the male behind her.

However since she was adamant at being right and not letting him explain, he simply shrugged it off and let her continue for now.

"Then why did I do all of this then according to you? Because if it were just to get away then I wouldn't have been here."

Bella tilted his head lightly at the boy in front of her, her demeanor changing quite a bit as she went from annoyed and angry back to what seemed her almost childish self.

"What I think? I think that ickle baby Potter fancies me…"

Her voice sounded quite sultry all of a sudden but Harry could see the look in her eyes that told him that the hatred she'd been showing was far from gone. Though she wasn't only one to keep up an act as Harry nearly threw a fit there. Sure he would have to admit that the witch had a certain attractiveness to her and definitely had a sensual looking body, enough to give a boy like him a wet dream if needed but there was still the fact that Bella was the one responsible for the death of his godfather. However he had to finish what he had started as there was no way out anymore.

"Maybe…"

As he flashed her a subtle smile she eyed him carefully before bursting out in a laughter shortly afterward, as it was all quite amusing to her but then she realized that she could use this to her advantage. Smirking on the inside she decided she could seduce the boy, maybe wear him out even before calling the Dark Lord. That way she'd ensure he wouldn't get away and well she figured she could use a little distraction after everything, since Rodolphus didn't pay her any attention lately and Voldemort well she could only dream of that.

Slowly she began to walk closer to Potter her wand now lowering slowly. The boy slightly gulped at this seemingly only to her amusement.

"You know what Potter… while it was an accident you did get rid of Rodolphus for me… so I guess a little reward is in place… but don't have any illusions or get any more of those funny thoughts…"

With those words she planted her hand firmly in Harry's groin, massaging the flesh underneath the fabric of his pants. Well his, they were handed down ones from Dudley but that was just a little detail. However she knew how to handle things as she was certainly bringing things to life there.

That there were certain tensions between the two was obvious, as there was not going to be any kissing between the two that much was clear. However Bellatrix did proceed to slowly undress the Gryffindor, before continuing to make his already half hard manhood even harder. She was definitely not going complain about the size but she wasn't going to compliment it either, this was already degrading enough but if it would enable to capture Potter than it would be worth it. Instead of complimenting the boy she gave Harry a firm push, causing him to end up on his back on the bed with a light oomph.

From there Harry watched how the dark witch undressed herself and he had to admit that for her age she was definitely still good looking underneath those black robes and dress. Once fully undressed she moved onto the bed as well, her fingers curling firmly around his cock as she straddled himself on top. Her eyes locked firmly with his as she positioned herself above him. Finally she began to push herself down on him, letting the boy fill her up but while he let go of a slight groaning moan she bit it back.

While she was going to enjoy it to a certain point Bella was determined to let as little as she could show to the other. It did feel good though, but she didn't want the Boy-Who-Lived to have that kind of satisfaction as well. Slowly she began to ride the boy but soon enough her hips were pushing down harder and firmer. The old bed squeaked a little underneath him as things picked up and Harry decided that this was much better than getting cursed, even if she still hated the woman whom was doing this to him.

Bellatrix kept her eyes locked with those famous green ones of Harry, but the more she was riding him the more her body betrayed her as well and every now and then she let go of a soft moan as well. The pace was still picking up as she wanted to ride the boy to bliss so she could call the Dark Lord while he recovered, so her own pleasure wasn't that important and thus she needed to distract herself. Something she did by raking her nails almost lustfully across his chest, enough so that welts began to form and even in some spots skin was broken.

The sudden pain in his chest made Harry curse, sure it wasn't as painful as the things his relatives did to him in the past but it pulled his mind of the pleasure, which he was using to distract himself from whom was riding him. It made him want to do something back to her and well together with the hatred he already kept deep inside of him that would have certain effects.

She however was enjoying the fact that she was riding him, though she would sooner say that it was because she made the Boy-Who-Lived bleed. The cursing that left his lips only added to that and caused Bella to laugh in amusement. This only added to Harry's annoyance and made her miss out on something quite vital.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry had reached for his wand and cast the Cruciatus curse at her before she even realized it. Unable to avoid it her body went into spasms as it was shuddering and writhing in agony and pain, this all while she was still on top of him and with him inside of her. Bellatrix had initially been surprised that he pulled the curse off to begin with but that was nothing to the surprise she was about to feel as the effects of everything added together.

"Oh Merlin… FUCK!"

They both yelled together as her uncontrollable motions on top of him send them both over the edge, the pain helping her a bit in it as well. Their climax was more than enough for Harry's concentration to break and thus ending the curse as well. After the waves of their orgasm ended Bella fell down panting on top of him, her plans of earlier completely forgotten for the moment by this unexpected experience.

"I hate… you…. Potter…. fuck… I hate… you…"

She stammered in between deep breaths, the tone clearly revealing that she more than meant those words. Then again so did the panting Harry.

"And I… hate you… Bella… but.. you are… my wife…"


	5. Truth Be Told

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took a while before I was able to add a new chapter to the story. I know some people don't like the cliffhanger endings I have on my stories, but it's just the way I choose to break the story up as I don't like making chapters that are too long. Furthermore I apologize if there are any grammar issues, as mentioned before I currently don't have a beta and next to that English isn't my first language, so I ask you to bare with me and enjoy the story nonetheless.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter five: truth be told  
**

"And I… hate you… Bella… but.. you are… my wife…"

Instantly she lashed out and struck his cheek with her hand, her nails once again moving across her skin, drawing blood in the process. Harry flinched and nearly scowled but ended up smirking instead as the dark witch slowly rose back to her feet and pulled the dark gray blanket from the bed around her body. Her eyes were still shooting fire for what he had said after all of this, in her opinion these foolish games and lies had to end as they simply weren't funny.

"Quit those lies Potter… you know it's not true… say that lie again and I'll curse you beyond recognition… not even your ickle friends will notice it is you when they find you."

Her words were harsh and Harry had no doubt she meant them utterly, though so had he when he said his. While she wasn't liking it perhaps, neither was he fully liking the idea either but he had figured it was the best way of doing things. No, he had to stick to his plan so after taking a deep breath he decided to speak up again, hoping that she wouldn't curse him too quickly.

"And what if I can prove it?"

Bellatrix rose a suspicious eyebrow at him as she narrowed her eyes, though it didn't make her glare any less deadly. Seeing that she didn't respond except for the fact that her anger was noticeably rising, Harry decided to move on.

"Dobby!"

The name had barely been spoken or a plop was heard in the room, announcing the arrival of the house elf to those inside. The small creature was happy to see Harry but that soon changed as he spotted Bellatrix in the room as well. The sight of the woman made his eyes widen even more, if that was even possible. Quickly the elf ducked behind Harry, peeking over his shoulder to the witch.

"What does Master Harry do with… her? Dobby need to get Master out of here?"

"No, Dobby… I want you to get something for me, make your way over to Gringotts and get one of their identification potions for me… and… have them put their seal on it."

Both the house elf as well as Bellatrix seemed to be confused at his request, though the latter was definitely hiding it much better. Nonetheless Dobby disappeared again to get what he was told to get, meanwhile it remained awkwardly silent in the room. The situation was causing them both to seemingly forget what had happened moments ago, as well as that neither of them had gotten dressed yet.

Only a few minutes later Dobby returned with a pop, carrying a package which he handed over to Harry while keeping a nervous eye on the witch in the room. Seeing the uneasiness within the creature he dismissed the house elf, whom eagerly left the room once he was allowed to. With Dobby gone Harry leaned over and held out the package to Bellatrix.

"What do you want me to do with that, Potter?"

"Use it of course… it will prove that what I said was true. And in case you don't trust it, feel free to check the seal on it."

He had expected her to not trust the package, accuse it of being a forgery or some prank made by those annoying Weasley twins, but by having it sealed she couldn't. Snatching the package from the boy she carefully examined it, first by simply looking at all sides of it before moving onto magic. Once she had done pretty much everything she knew in order to reveal any tampering with it, she had to admit that it was real, much to her dismay. Reluctantly she began to unwrap it, the annoyance still clearly visible in her eyes as she glanced at Harry a few times.

Inside the package Bellatrix found three pieces of parchment, of which one contained the instructions to the potion written in a very scratchy handwriting, as well two vials containing a clear liquid, a quill and a needle. Sighing to herself she walked over to the table and put things down on there while Harry continued to watch from the bed. After she had read the instructions he rose to his feet as well and cautiously walked closer, still not sure if she would curse him or not.

Muttering slightly she used the needle to puncture her finger enough so she could allow three drops of her blood to drip into one of the vials, as soon as the blood hit the liquid inside it began to shift colors till it settled as a deep dark blue after the third drop of blood was added. Picking up the quill the witch glared at Harry again.

"If this turns out to be some kind of sick joke… you'll wish the Dark Lord had killed you when you were still an ickle baby Potter."

Her words were harsh and were raising the hairs in the back of his neck, the boy knew she was serious with her threats but even though the nerves began to act up more he knew that he was speaking the truth earlier.

Finally she dipped the quill into the now blue liquid before moving the tip of it on one of the empty pieces of parchment. As soon as it hit the paper writing began to appear on it, it looked exactly like her own handwriting yet she wasn't moving the quill at all. Instead she was looking at what started to appear.

"[i]Bellatrix Druella Black

Born December 21st, 1951

Magical Status:

Widow of Roldolphus Arcturus Lestrange[/i]"

"See? You little shit!"

Bellatrix instantly snapped as the words appeared, turning towards the young boy standing beside her. She had her talon-shaped wand already pointed at his bare body ready to unleash a curse with a mere uttering of the incantation. The movement made Harry step back quickly, hell who wouldn't, but instead of raising his own wand he pointed over to the parchment again.

"What? Quit those jokes, Potter, it says I'm a widow… so that proves you are lying, Potter."

"Yes, it does say that Bellatrix… but it's not all it says…"

As her frustrations grew bigger she glanced over to the parchment, not expecting to see anything new but to her surprise and shock there was. Her wand slowly lowered as she read it over and over, unable to believe her eyes.

"[i]Bellatrix Druella Black

Born December 21st, 1951

Magical Status:

Widow of Roldolphus Arcturus Lestrange

Wife of Harry James Potter[/i]"

"No, it can't be… no, it can't…'

The dark witch uttered those words several times, over and over in that almost childlike voice of hers, tossing her wand onto the table she grabbed the second vial and once again followed the instructions, only to get the very same result out of it… she was indeed legally married to Harry Potter.

As she jumped up from her chair it fell back on the ground, though at the same time she was already pushing the boy back down on the bed with a hiss. She ended up straddling him once again, but this time for a whole different reason.

"What did you do Potter? Tell me…. NOW! How the fuck….how?"

It took Harry a few to get over being startled, pounced on and getting the wind knocked out of his body all at once. On top of that he was pretty much being threatened as well, because she was shaking him in a violent manner as she demanded answers.

"Alright, alright… I'll explain… just stop shaking, will you?"

While she stopped shaking him with a grumble, she kept holding him pinned down. It did give the boy a quite nice view but it was still Bellatrix on top of him and well they both had other things in mind than a repeat of earlier.

"First of all, the reason that this is possible is for something that happened about a year ago in Diagon Alley… I didn't know back then that it was you, but you were being…. bothered… by some of your fellow Death Eaters…"

Instantly her expression changed instantly as she heard it, once again shock and surprise took over yet there was also a hint of pain in there as she remembered it all too well.

It had been only shortly after her escape from Azkaban and they had been there to get wands from Ollivander, seeing they couldn't go all at once they'd gone in groups. She had been the last one to go, yet some of the others decided she could wait for their entertainment. After all over a decade without female companionship tends to affect certain men. Bellatrix had tried to fight them off but them having wands ended up being an advantage, till out of nowhere some of them had been disarmed. Without thinking she'd ran…

She had never known whom had saved her, nor had she thought about it either as she simply had wanted to forget the whole ordeal and quickly move on. Of course she had made sure to put the men involved into place but other than that it had ended up locked away somewhere in the back of her mind.

"From there I just needed the opportunity… I know I couldn't do it with… Him… around and next to that there was Rodolphus, as well as the Order watching me for almost every moment of the day. Fortunately I know how to avoid them and when I learned about you seeking retribution at the Ministry, I was able to execute my plan…"

"You mean…"

"Yes, my reason to interfere was not to save the others, but to lure out you and your late husband… I made sure he would see me each time, so he'd follow me. I knew you would be after me as well and pretty much the first to respond to whom ever saw me… it took me a while to get rid of the others, before I could make my next step.

Using you to hide my spell, I fired my Avada Kedavra , so once you moved out of the way it was impossible for Rodolphus to defend himself. Once he was out of the picture, it was merely left to getting us out of sight and claiming the life debt."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes several times as Harry spoke, trying to find out if he were lying or not, but she couldn't pick up on any of lies within his words.

"So you had it all planned out, Potter?"

"All but one part, it still required consuming the marriage… fortunately, well, it turned out easier than I thought… good though!"

The latter instantly was followed by the sound of a hard slap, as well as an red hue which began to appear on his cheek more and more. While she said it mostly about the comment he made, in reality she wanted to slap herself just as hard. The witch realized she had played exactly into the boys hands throughout it all and while she maybe should be happy about knowing whom saved her, she definitely wasn't showing any of it. Instead it was all anger and frustration that was there.

"Quite a move Potter, almost Slytherin worthy… but quit fucking with me.. and tell me why!"


	6. No Way Back

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Alright, here is another chapter. This one will show slightly on how things will be between Harry and Bella for now, though for those whom want more revelations they will have to wait till the next chapter. Also someone asked me about getting Bellatrix pregnant, while it might happen at some point for now it's not going to happen so to keep the marriage hidden from others.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter six: no way back  
**

"Quite a move Potter, almost Slytherin worthy… but quit fucking with me.. and tell me why!"

That Bellatrix was impatient wasn't too surprising but right now Harry felt she was really pushing it, because even before he had been able to utter a single word he could feel her fingers slide into his messy hair. A moment later her grip tightened considerably before his head was pulled up and slammed back down on the bed with force, more force than most would have expected from the witch whom was currently straddling him. While it was a bed his head was being smashed into, it still didn't feel pleasant as Tom's beds weren't the most comfortable ones in the world. In Harry's opinion they ranked slightly above hospital beds, going on the ones he'd been on in Hogwarts, but he was still glad it wasn't something harder.

Harry groaned several times as the female Death Eater increased her efforts to get the answers she wanted out of him. It annoyed him so much that he decided two could play this game.

"Answer me! Damn it! Answer me NOW!"

The relentless tugging on his hair continued as Bellatrix forcefully tried to get answers, though in her rage she didn't see how Harry aimed his wand at her. With a sudden buck of his hips he pushed himself into the naked witch on top of him, resulting into a loud gasp on her end as well as causing her to release his hair in the process. It was just what Harry was waiting for, as he certainly wasn't thinking about round two but it was enough for him to grab his other wand and use it.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

As soon as the body bind curse hit Bellatrix she began to fell forward, causing her to fully fall onto the boy's body. It was the first time Harry actually felt her breasts and groped them, but the latter was more because he wanted to push her off of him. Didn't take away that he did though and that he added an extra squeeze as well.

Once he had pushed her to the side Harry got quickly to his feet, though instead of just doing that what he wanted to do he took a moment to brush some of those raven colored strands out of her face so she could see a bit of what was going on, since he was well aware that she was still conscious.

"Ugh… did you really have to yank my hair like that? Sheesh, I already have enough issues with it as it is… if you hadn't I might have told you a bit more, but now… I won't… two can play this childish game, Bella…"

He could see her eyes narrow as he once again called her that, but he didn't care.

"… however I would love to stay and chat on our 'wedding night' but sadly I have other things to worry about…"

Harry knew that he had only limited time he could be away from Privet Drive, as certain Order members were just doing their jobs with a whole lot more of seriousness than others. It was something he needed to do something about, but at the same time he knew that as long as he could fool them he would keep Dumbledore at a safe distance as well.

"Dobby!"

As the Boy-Who-Lived called out for the house elf he began to quickly gather his clothes, along with his invisibility cloak, and began to get somewhat dressed. It didn't take long though before a popping sound announced the arrival of the always wide-eyed Dobby, though this time he was a lot more cautious it seemed. Those dark orbs of his quickly glanced around the room in search of the dark witch and once he spotted the female laying on the bed in her helpless state, he almost leaped up in joy. It drew a chuckle from Harry, though the Gryffindor knew that Bellatrix was quite less amused with the both of them.

"Dobby, it's time to take me back to my place."

Once again Dobby became a bit nervous, seeing that he didn't like the Dursleys either where they were treating Harry as most wizards were treating their house elves. But seeing the look on Harry's face he knew that it was what the boy wanted and being able to help him was still something that brought Dobby great pleasure no matter what.

"Of course, Master Harry Potter Sir, Dobby will take you back to…"

"DOBBY!"

Harry interrupted the elf in a loud manner, as though he was now married to Bellatrix and knew that she had to be somewhat loyal due to the life debt but trusting her was a whole different kind game of Quidditch . No, right now he wasn't going to drop any unnecessary clues on where he lived when it wasn't needed. The interruption made Dobby realize the mistake it made and turned himself towards the nearby closet, though Harry was quick enough to keep him from banging his head into it.

"Dobby! Don't do that… you have other things to do remember."

The boy kept a stern tone in order to keep the elf from punishing himself and then turned to the still bound witch on the bed.

"Oh I don't think you want to let the Dark Lord know about us, so I trust that you keep things to yourself for now… either way I really have to go, but maybe next time you can let me explain things better… I'll be in touch soon enough again… good bye… dear…"

Okay, the latter he just had to add to piss Bellatrix off a little, seeing his head was still hurting from her hair pulling. Looking over to Dobby he waved his wand in order to release the curse that kept the female Death Eater restricted, before a moment and a pop later the house elf took the both of them back to Privet Drive.

With a deep sigh he let go of the pile of clothing he was still holding, letting it fall to the ground, before turning over to Dobby.

"Thank you for helping me out Dobby, I know you don't like her… and frankly neither do I, but for now this is needed. You can go back to Hogwarts now and keep an eye on things for me there, I'll call you when I need you again."

Dobby opened his mouth in order to say something but looking at his Master he decided it was better not to and nodded silently before disappearing with one of his usual pops.

Once the house elf had left the small bedroom Harry walked over to his bed, or rather Dudley's old bed but that didn't matter right now, and allowed himself to fall onto it. The boy stared for a few moment at the ceiling before reaching to the side and pulling an old looking envelope from underneath the drawer of his nightstand. Instead of opening it Harry just allowed the paper to slide along his fingers as he fiddled with it, his emerald green eyes following it in every movement.

"I hope I made the right choice, Sirius… because now there is no way back… I wish that you can see Dumbledore's face when he finds things out… we'll be certainly pulling a big one on him if I manage to pull this off.."


	7. A Sirious Note

**Disclaimer: **I am not JKR nor do own any of her works, I am just someone whom loves to take a wand and stir in her magical world a bit. I do this merely for my own pleasure and that of the readers, not for money.

**Author's Notes:** Time for another chapter and time to take a step back in time as well, the next few chapters will pretty much be a flashback of what made Harry do the things he did so far. There is a lot more to come and to be revealed so I hope you enjoy reading my story as it unfolds. Reviews are as always appreciated.

* * *

**PADDING INTO BLACK FOOTSTEPS**  
**chapter seven: a sirious note  
**

A few weeks earlier…

It had only been a few hours since Harry had gotten back with the Dursleys and in his opinion it had been a few hours too many already. None of them seemed to care one bit about the fact that he had just lost his godfather, the one relative he had left whom had cared about him. They knew though, Vernon hadn't hesitated to rub it in a few times while he forced the boy to do his chores, according to him it was a perfect example how they had felt just because Harry hadn't been there to take care of the daily jobs around the house. Harry though had only done the chores to keep himself from cursing the crap out of his relatives, as even dealing with the Minister of Magic was sounding quite tempting.

Chores done Harry didn't hesitate to head quickly to his room, or rather Dudley's old room, something he was reminded of as well seeing that his 'beloved' nephew had seemingly discarded all his trash into Harry's room in order to keep his own room clean. Groaning Harry had made his way towards his bed, where he pushed some of the bags simply onto the floor just so he could let himself fall on the bed.

"BOY! There is still some trash upstairs, make sure you have taken it out by dinner. It's the least thing you can do for having me pick you up from the station and putting me close to those freakish friends of yours..."

"Yes, Uncle..."

Harry groaned as a reply, not even feeling like defending his friends like usual. After all it wasn't like they had shown much of that friendship ever since the whole thing went down in the Ministry of Magic. It wasn't like he had forced them to come along but everyone was seemingly blaming him for what happened, to make matters worse they had even kept him from visiting them in the hospital ward.

The next hour or so he spend laying there on the bed and staring at the ceiling, though the silence he was enjoying was once again broken as his uncle's voice roared through the house.

"BOY! Hurry up and get this darned bird out of the hallway!"

Vernon didn't add extra threats of taking care of the owl on his own, seeing that Hedwig didn't allow those chubby fingers to touch her cage, much to the amusement of Harry. However seeing he didn't have the peace and quietness here that the astronomy tower had given him the past few days, there was not much choice for him to get moving again. But before he could move Hedwig up to his room he had no choice either in having to clean out the room first, and thus he began with carrying those bags and boxes out to the street.

Once there was enough space Harry had moved Hedwig's cage as well as his trunk upstairs, but seeing he was busy now he decided that he'd better get the remaining garbage bags out of his room as well. After numerous amounts of trips up and down the stairs he finally lifted the last two bags, though instead of a relieved sigh there was an annoyed groan as it seemed that one of the bags was torn and something fell out of it.

So he made sure to hold the bag extra tightly as he carried it downstairs, the last thing Harry wanted was leaving a trail of trash and get another beating of his uncle for making a mess. Fortunately such a fate was saved for him as he reached the pile of junk at the end of the driveway without making a bigger mess. Though that wasn't too surprising seeing a check up on the bag revealed that there was no tear in it at all.

Carrying himself back up the stairs Harry made his way back to his room, where he slowly reached over to pick up the ball of paper, which had fallen there earlier, from the floor. Harry was about to throw it casually into his bin as he suddenly felt the paper move in his hand. Curiously he turned his attention to it, watching how it slowly began to unfold himself until Harry was left with an old looking envelope. Carefully opening it he found a blank piece of paper, which he studied for a moment but neither the envelope nor the paper had seemingly any markings on it.

"Ow!"

In his studying Harry managed to cut himself on the paper, though he was soon to find out that there was much more to that than a simple accident, even more so as he suddenly watched how letters began to appear on the piece of parchment.

_Hello Pup,_

_I'm sorry for the cut Harry, but I had to make sure no one else could read this note, as you getting this note means something has happened to me .All I can tell you right now is that I need you to trust me, Harry, and seek out the help of Dobby and Kreacher._

_Padfoot_

Harry read the small note in surprise, before reading it a few more times again until the letters on it began to fade away. It didn't keep him though from holding onto it and a stray tear to roll down his cheek. He missed Sirius a lot and the note was another reminder of him being gone, yet it told Harry as well that somehow his godfather had predicted something was going to happen and he wanted to know how. The only thing that didn't make sense was why he needed Kreacher, as the last time they met the house elf hadn't been particularly fond of Harry.

It surely left the boy to wonder what was going on and after spending some time trying to figure it out on his own, he knew that the only way to get answers was to trust Sirius. That of course wasn't a tough decisions seeing his godfather was the only one he really trusted at the moment, except for maybe Dumbledore, though the latter had been ignoring him ever since he had gone to the Ministry with his 'friends'. So Harry did the only thing he logically could do…

"Dobby!"


End file.
